Oka camper to buy or not to buy

Hi everyone
I have been reading up about the OKA and find the camper vehicle has pretty much all i am looking for as it has 4wd capabilities

.Some background... I want to do a road trip around Australia for about min. 4 months and then travel off shore new zealand for sure, and perhaps later South America. My concern is parts and availability. I am thinking if I were in S. America and needed a heavy part to be sent over it will cost a fortune. Has anyone in the OKA community taken their OKA overseas? If so I would love to hear their thoughts and experiences about the OKA, budgets, and parts etc.
Also we were thinking if the OKa would fit in a shipping container for easy relocation / travel?
It's all new so any input is much appreciated as we continue to do our research….
Also we haven't seen an oka or been in one as yet… we are in sydney NSw so if any OKA owners are travelling this way in the next couple of months please let me know as we would love to see one !
Thanks

There are OKA's in South Africa and New Zealand now.

Have a good look at OKA NT001 Susi and Ruedi on Tour.
www.schoensleben.ch/sur/content/index_e.shtml

OKA parts are available everywhere, Dana Diffs, Perkins Engine...

Will Fit in a shipping container

Hi

I am in Sydney and have 396 which is a dual. You are quite welcome to come and have a look at it.
You can contact me on 0407 894 454

Cheers Peter.

Hi Nesstrella,there is one OKA in Chile,one in Argentina and two in Brasil all working and having no problem with spares.
Cheers,Joe

Spares are always going to be a problem no matter where you are and the further you are from the supplier, the worse it becomes. Here in S America a part for our vehicle - a F350 - may have to come from the USA even though there are millions of Ford manufactured here because a lot of the components are different. We meet people who are parked up for a couple of weeks waiting for simple items like fuel pumps. Getting a brake master cylinder for an OKA might be difficult. Fixing an injector pump not because there are heaps of repair shops in every major town or city. Ruedi and Susi's NT001 I think had components from S Africa that might have been available but took a long time to get to S America. I'd also suggest it might not be a good example to give someone thinking of buying an OKA because it was not a typical OKA.
One thing going for the OKA is basic simplicity so you aren't ever stuck because of failure of complex electronics, but you can still end up halfway up a sand dune in the middle of the Simpson because of a 10 cent part and may as well be on the moon.

Parts are available on every continent. Mostly dodge drivetrain with perkins engine.

Susie and Reudi's NT is a good example of travel but bad example of vehicle, the NT had many different parts to the XT or LT.

The oka will fit in a container, it's 2m wide and 2.5m high as standard so my understanding is that a 9 foot high container would be needed (someone with experience may correct me here), but in my mind perfectly possible. Also depending on the oka setup you may fit in a 20 foot container, either that or half a 40 foot.

Add to that all the benefits of oka's and you're laughing!

Cheers, alister

A normal container is 2.4 high inside and 5.8 long - the door surround is the lowest point of the roof. You would be struggling to get an OKA in a container without removing the wheels particularly if you have solar panels, roof racks or any sort of raised roof. High top 20 foot containers may as well not exist and are almost impossible to find out of Australia and in most other places.

You will be stuck with a high top 40 footer at 2.7 high inside at nearly double the cost of a 20 footer if you have any roof extensions. I had to cut about 150mm off the chassis extension to make the 5.8 length restriction without taking off the bull bar. Although I have minimal roof extension (75mm), entry to a standard height container will be on rims without tyres to make it through the door.

Lang

Thank you for your comments. It is much appreciated. We are considering all options and still researching.

I actually spotted an OKA last week ! A real coincidence, number 027 ! I chatted to the owner and it was a real pleasure.

Thanks Peter, I will take you up on your offer and contact you when we are ready.

Hi Joseph
I'd love to get in touch with the OKA owners in Argentina and Chile to know a bit more about their experiences. Do you or anyone else have their contact details? Email address?

Thanks
Ness

Ness, the Oka in Chile is Oka 219.

I don't think he is a member and the only details in our database are his name, Francisco Jooris Jacmart, and location Valdivia, Chile.

There are some photos of his Oka in our Photos library here , from some years ago. (Note the VIN number on the photos page is wrong, Oka 291 belongs to some one else).

David

Susi & Ruedi have contact details for the OKA owners in South America.
Get in touch with them.
Ruedi says Joe in Perth knows too.